Page 31 - Great Elizabethans

MANCHESTER UNITED
Bobby joined Manchester United when he was only 15, still a
schoolboy. Even though Cissie was so keen on football, she worried
that Bobby wouldn’t be able to earn a living playing ‘the beautiful game’ –
so Bobby started an apprenticeship in electrical engineering too, just in case. But he soon signed professionally with Manchester United and never looked back.
At that time, United didn’t have the amazing reputation they have now. They weren’t
a very successful team until manager Matt Busby hired and trained the set of incredibly talented players
who would become known as the ‘Busby Babes’. Bobby was one of the ‘Babes’, working his way up through
the youth and reserve teams. He got his chance to play on the first team in 1956, scoring twice against Charlton Athletic – with a sprained ankle!
But in February 1958, a terrible tragedy happened. A plane carrying the Manchester United team, including Bobby, crashed on the runway at Munich-Riem Airport, Germany. Eight players were killed.
Bobby survived, but the club struggled after the disaster, and several of the survivors never played football again.
It was hard for Bobby to recover from the accident and the sad loss of his teammates. However, a few weeks later, he managed to get back out on the pitch again – and in April 1958 he played in the England squad for the
first time, scoring against Scotland.
FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR
Over his career, Bobby Charlton scored an incredible 249 goals for Manchester United, and 49 goals for the English national team – only Wayne Rooney has scored more!
Bobby would go on to play for England over 100 times during the course of his career. However, some of his most famous games happened during the 1966 World Cup. He scored both winning goals in England’s semi-final against Portugal. And although he
didn’t score in the final against West Germany – which England won 4–2 – he was voted European Footballer of the Year for his brilliant playing throughout the tournament.
In 1973, aged 36, Bobby left Manchester United after 20 hugely successful years playing for the club. He became the manager of Preston North End for a while, and later returned to United to help run the club as a director.
Bobby won many awards and trophies during his career. In 1994 he was made a knight, becoming Sir Bobby Charlton, and in 2008 he was given the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award – which
was presented to him by his brother Jack.
As a young man, Bobby’s brother Jack worked as a miner and applied to become a police officer – but the lure of football was too strong for him, and he ended up playing for Leeds United! He also played with Bobby in the England team which won the 1966 World Cup, and eventually went on to become a brilliant manager for the Republic of Ireland team. He died in 2020.
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